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Godsmack is a Hard Rock/Alt-Metal band from Boston, Massachusetts.
Alice in Chains is believed to be the primary influence upon Godsmack; it is speculated that the band got their name from an Alice in Chains song of the same name. In early interviews, the band admitted they started off as a tribute band to Alice in Chains. In an interview with MTV upon the death of Alice in Chains lead singer Layne Staley, Godsmack frontman Sully Erna stated that Staley "was single-handedly the guy that got me to start singing." [http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1453568/20020423/story.jhtml Other bands cited by Godsmack members as their primary influences typically include Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Rush, Pearl Jam and Black Sabbath. More recently, Godsmack have attempted to distance themselves from the Alice in Chains comparison with Erna stating in an interview with Matt Ashare, "I've just never really heard that in our music." Nevertheless, the comparisons to Alice in Chains are well documented. Sully Erna's style of singing mirrors that of Layne Staley's while the overall sound of the band's first two albums sound incredibly similar to the sound of Dirt. The logo of Godsmack is similar to the sun logo of Alice in Chains. Godsmack also released an album titled "Faceless" which is similar in name to Alice in Chain's first album Facelift. The band's name is identical to the title of an Alice In Chains song from the album Dirt. The band even transcended from their heavy sound to a more mellow acoustic sound on their album The Other Side in the same manner Alice in Chains did in Sap and Jar of Flies.
In 2002, Godsmack received a Grammy nomination in "Best Rock Instrumental Performance" for the song "Vampires" from the album Awake. In 2004, they were opening for Metallica, while headlining with Dropbox in the summer. Then they did acoustic shows for their newly released album The Other Side in the fall of 2004, while still opening for Metallica. In September 2004, Godsmack issued a live DVD titled "Changes," (it went gold, according to RIAA) which the band recorded earlier that year. That same month, the group also released "Batalla de los Tambores," a live cut available only via online services such as Apple's iTunes Music Store, Real and Napster. Their latest single "Speak" was released on February 14, 2006 and their album titled IV was released April 25, 2006. According to an interview with Sully a new international tour is slated to begin in June and touring in the states will begin in September. IV debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 211,000 copies in its first week.
Name origin
There are generally two beliefs of how the band came up with its name. Originally, many believed Godsmack obtained their name from the Alice in Chains song God Smack from the album Dirt due to the band's heavy influence on Godsmack. Godsmack's vocalist, Sully Erna, would state otherwise in interviews since at least 1999 that: "It happened at rehearsal when our drummer came in with a big cold sore on his lip. I was making fun of him all day because we had a photo shoot coming up. And then the next day when I came in, I had a big cold sore on my lip. So my guitar player said, "See, God just smacked you for making fun of him."However, many believe that this was part of Godsmack's attempt to distinguish themselves to the band that they have been most compared to so frequently.[http://www.subvulture.com/archive/082.html Also some believe Erna was making the story up since the band were unnamed during the time there would have been no way they would get a photo shoot if they were unnamed.
Game appearances
Godsmack's songs "I Stand Alone" and "Straight Out of Line", were used as the theme songs for the 2004 Ubisoft game, Warrior Within: In Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, "I Stand Alone" plays without the lyrics when the Prince is being chased by the "Dahaka". It also appears when you are fighting, but not every single battle. Straight Out of Line appears in the credits. Their song "Moon Baby" from their self-titled album appears in "Championship Motocross" for the Playstation. Bring it On appears NFL Madden '06.
Movie appearances
The song "I Stand Alone" appeared in the movie The Scorpion King.
The song "Straight Out Of Line" appeared in the movie A Man Apart.
The song "Why" appeared in the movie "Any Given Sunday".
Tribute
On May 25, 2006, Judas Priest (along with KISS, Queen and Def Leppard) was inducted into the "VH1 Rock Honors." Televised on May 31, their presentation was preceded by Godsmack performing a medley of the Priest classics Electric Eye, Victim Of Changes and Hell Bent For Leather.
Current members
- Sully Erna (b. February 7, 1968) - Vocals, guitar, and percussion.
- Robbie Merrill (b. June 13, 1963, in Norwood, Massachusetts, U.S.A.) - Bass and backing vocals
- Tony Rombola (b. November 24, 1964, in Lawrence, Massachusetts, U.S.A.) - Guitars and backing vocals
- Shannon Larkin (b.April 24, 1967) - Drums/Percussion - ex-Amen,Ugly Kid Joe, Wrathchild America
Former members
- Lee Richards - Guitars
- Tommy Stewart - Drums
- Joe D'arco - Drums
Discography
Albums
| Album Cover | Date of Release | Title | Label | US Billboard Peak | US sales |
| July 28, 1998 | All Wound Up (released independently and remastered as the self-titled, Godsmack) | EK | |||
| August 25, 1998 | Godsmack | Universal | 5x Platinum | ||
| October 31, 2000 | Awake | Universal | 2x Platinum | ||
| April 8, 2003 | Faceless | Universal | Platinum | ||
| March 16, 2004 | The Other Side (EP) | Universal | Gold | ||
| April 25, 2006 | IV | Universal | Gold |
Singles
| Year | Song | US Hot 100 | US Modern Rock | US Main- stream Rock | UK singles | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | "Whatever" | - | 19 | 7 | - | Godsmack |
| 1999 | "Keep Away" | - | 31 | 5 | - | Godsmack |
| 1999 | "Voodoo" | - | 6 | 5 | - | Godsmack |
| 2000 | "Bad Religion" | - | 32 | 8 | - | Godsmack |
| 2000 | "Awake" | - | 12 | 1 | - | Awake |
| 2001 | "Bad Magick" | - | 28 | 12 | - | Awake |
| 2001 | "Greed" | - | 28 | 3 | - | Awake |
| 2002 | "I Stand Alone" | - | 20 | 1 | - | Faceless |
| 2003 | "Serenity" | - | 10 | 7 | - | Faceless |
| 2003 | "Straight Out of Line" | 73 | 9 | 1 | - | Faceless |
| 2004 | "Re-Align" | - | 28 | 3 | - | Faceless |
| 2004 | "Running Blind" | - | 14 | 3 | - | The Other Side |
| 2004 | "Touché" | - | 33 | 7 | - | The Other Side |
| 2006 | "Speak1" | 85 | 10 | 1 | - | IV |
| 2006 | "Shine Down1" | 12 | - | IV | ||
1 currently active in charts
External links
- Godsmack site - France
- Official website
- Official Message Board
- ArtistDirect.com - Godsmack
- VH1 Profile
- Italian Godsmack site/forum
- Official fan site
American musical groups | Heavy metal musical groups | 1990s music groups | 2000s music groups | Massachusetts musical groups
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"Godsmack"